Collected Dataset / HRS_Wave_11

The War Baby (WB) sub-sample consists of people who were born in 1942 through 1947, were household residents of the conterminous U.S. in the spring 1992, who, at that time, did not have a spouse or partner born before 1924 or between 1931 and 1941, and were still household residents at the time of the first interview in 1998, and their spouses or partners at the time of the initial interview or at the time of any subsequent interview.

The interviews were conducted by using the enhanced face-to-face: a mixed-mode design in which half of the sample is assigned a face-to-face interview with physical and biological measures and psychosocial questionnaire, and the other half only the core interview by telephone. The half-samples alternate waves.

The core questionnaires included sections directed at: demographic background, health status, housing, family structure and transfers, employment of respondent, job, disability, retirement plans, cognition, net worth other than housing, income, health and life insurance, and widowhood.

Participants were left with a copy of a psychosocial questionnaire and were asked at the end of the interview, to complete and return it by mail. Well-being, lifestyle, social relationships, personality, work, and self-related beliefs were measured in this questionnaire.

In addition, interviewers administered physical tests and obtained biological specimens. Physical measures included grip strength, timed walk, lung function, balance, height and weight, waist circumference and blood pressure. Saliva and blood were also obtained.

Social Security earnings and benefits records were obtained from Medicare record and using the Employer Identification Number (EIN), they collected pension plan information from respondents’ current and past employers. Finally, healthcare utilization and other data were assessed from the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare.

In the event of the participant's death, either the National Death Index (NDI) or attempts at an interview with a surviving spouse, child or other informant was used to obtain information about medical expenditures, family interactions, disposition of assets following death, and other circumstances during the final stages of life.